The Daughter of Ipswich
by WithinTemptation101
Summary: Think 'The Covenant' - only add in a girl. Caleb's younger sister, Charlotte, was, against all odds, also born with the Power. I've edited the dialogue for language and so it makes more sense with a new character. Feedback!
1. Chapter 1

It was a dark, misty evening—typical weather in Ipswich, Massachusetts. I stood on a cliff with my older brother, Caleb, and our best friends, Pogue and Tyler. A wild party in full swing was down below us, and as soon as our friend Reid appeared, we'd go and check it out. We could hear music playing in the distance and could see the orange glow of several bonfires, but the swirling fog prevented us from learning more. I pulled my blue hoodie tighter and went to the edge of the cliff, squeezing myself in between Tyler and Pogue. Behind us, Caleb muttered something and snapped his phone shut.

"No answer. Reid can never be trusted."

"Aw, Reid's been that way for as long as we can remember. He doesn't even know his own phone number," scoffed Pogue.

I laughed. "We'll give him five more minutes, then I'm going."

"Not alone, you're not," said Caleb, draping an arm over my shoulder.

"Lay off, Caleb," I groaned. He was very protective of me—they all were—and they decided that my being the youngest gave them the authority to be in charge of me. Caleb was the worst, but in some ways it was understandable. I was the first girl in the history of our families that was born with the Power, and it was very strange and foreign to us. We didn't know how this would affect me, or our families, but for now, everything that had happened to me was normal. Aside from that, Caleb's birthday was a few days away—his eighteenth. He would ascend soon, and I knew that the burden of being the first was weighing heavily on him, more than he let on.

"Yeah, Caleb, lay off!" said Pogue in a high voice. He batted his eyelashes and swatted Caleb like I had.

"Shut up, Pogue. Is that the best you can do?" I asked.

He was about to respond when a voice came from behind us.

"What's up, fellas?" Reid said, oblivious to the fact that he'd kept us waiting nearly twenty minutes longer than planned.

"Where were you?" asked Tyler, punching his arm. "I stopped by to give you a lift."

"Had things to do," he said.

"Sure, ditching your friends was number one on your priority list," muttered Caleb.

Reid turned. The wind blew his blond hair around and he grinned. "Hi to you too, Caleb. Hey Charlotte," he added.

"Hey Reid," I grinned. It was hard for people to be mad at him, though Caleb might be an exception. His hazel eyes, identical to mine, glowered at him.

"Chill, Caleb," said Reid, pulling out one of his many innocent faces.

Caleb's glare deepened. Reid didn't seem to mind, because he turned to Pogue and Tyler and joined them at the edge.

"How's the party?" he asked.

"Dunno. Haven't been here for very long," responded Pogue, looking down.

"Hell, boys," said Reid, kicking some loose stones over. He turned to use, and his eyes began to shift. An orange flash made its way across, and within seconds, his eyes were pitch black. "Let's drop in." He leapt casually off of the cliff.

My heart rate sped up. I loved being able to do this. I was aware of the powers and how seductive they were, and for the most part, I avoided using them for fun, courtesy of Caleb. That made times like this exciting.

"Oh, yeah!" Tyler said before going down back first.

"Tyler!" exclaimed my brother. I rolled my eyes. He never liked us using the power unless it was a life or death situation, and so far, we'd never been in a problem like that.

I knew Caleb would try to hold me back so I allowed myself to go down without giving any warning. My eyes went dark and I flipped off of the cliff.

"Charlotte!" I head him yell, but I was already on my way down. I briefly heard Pogue laughing before I was too far down. I landed easily, and I saw Tyler and Reid looking at me with admiration. I may be younger, and a girl, but I was just as good as jumping off of cliffs as they were, and I think they realized it then.

Behind us, Caleb and Pogue came down. Caleb looked at me, and I knew he was not happy. When we started walking, he pulled me aside.

"Don't do that," he said, in older brother mode now.

"What?" I asked innocently.

"You know what," he said. "You know what can happen."

"Yeah, I do, but it's every once in awhile. Don't worry about it. This is a party. Don't wanna show up looking like this," I teased.

He smiled reluctantly and ruffled my hair. I dodged out of his way before he could do any more damage, throwing my hood over my hair and racing up to squeeze in between Pogue and Reid. Reid draped an arm over me and Tyler reached over and pulled a lock of my hair that had escaped from my hood. I stood contentedly in the middle, Tyler and Reid to my left and Pogue and Caleb on my right. The party came into view, and I slipped my hood off.

The party was going strong. People were dancing and talking, laughing and singing along to the music that was blasting from the speakers set up near one of the huge, roaring bonfires. As we came into view, people turned to look at us. Some saw us with clear eyes, others through foggy, intoxicated vision. We always earned stares. Many were directed at me, standing in the middle of four tall boys. They all knew that I was Caleb's younger sister, but no one really came to talk to me, mostly because those four boys would come and give that said person hell if they came too close. I rolled my eyes and Reid's arm tightened around me as one boy looked me up and down. Reid stared the boy down in a murderous glare. As we entered the circle of teenagers, whispers followed us. I ignored them as best as I could.

Soon, my friend Kate came into view. A blonde girl who I didn't recognize stood next to her. Both were smiling and turned to face us. Kate ran up to Pogue and threw her arms around him.

"Hi! You're late," she said.

"Had something with the family," he responded. "Who's this?" he asked, looking at the blonde girl.

"This is my new roommate, Sarah," Kate said. "Sarah, this is Pogue Perry, Tyler Simms, Charlotte Danvers, Reid—"

"Garwin," finished Reid dramatically. "Reid Garwin. Good evening."

"Good evening," Sarah responded, matching his teasing tone.

"You know, Sarah's my grandmother's name—" Reid began.

"Caleb Danvers," my brother interrupted smoothly. "And you don't bring my grandmother to mind in any way." He grinned at her.

She smiled back. "Sarah."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kira Snider, a girl who always seemed to have a new boyfriend whenever we saw her, coming towards us. She'd liked my brother for as long as I could remember, and she and I hated each other with a passion. I groaned.

"Hey Caleb," she said, throwing herself in front of Sarah and practically on top of my brother.

"Hey Kira," he responded. It was only out of his goodness of his heart did he reply in kind tone. I rolled my eyes. Reid and Tyler exchanged amused glances and Pogue and Kate looked at Caleb with sympathy. He'd never liked Kira, but still acknowledged her whenever she demanded his attention.

"How was your summer?" she asked in a smooth voice.

"Um," Caleb looked over at Sarah, and Kira followed his gaze.

"I'm Kira," she said, sticking her hand out to Sarah.

"Sarah," she responded, taking her hand, oblivious to Kira's reputation and intentions.

"Oh, right, from the Boston Public. Tell me, how does one go about getting into Spencer from a public?" Kira asked, a mockery in her voice.

"Why don't you give it a rest, Kira?" advised Caleb.

"Why don't _you_ give it a rest?" interjected Aaron Abbot, the biggest jerk at Spencer, and Kira's current "boyfriend." He got up in Caleb's face, though he was a good five or six inches shorter than him.

"I don't want any trouble, Aaron," Caleb said.

"I'm sure you don't," Aaron shot back. He noticed me then. I stood my ground as he looked me up and down. "Hey Charlotte," he said.

"Aaron," I muttered, hating to have to acknowledge him. He'd liked me ever since I'd first started going to Spencer but I detested him. His arrogance and his belief that he could get any girl he wanted made him unbelievably disgusting to me. Not to mention he was known to treat any girl stupid enough to be his girlfriend like dirt. I was one of the few girls who resisted his advances, though that only made him try harder.

"You know," he said, his attention entirely on me, "you really shouldn't hang out with boys like this."

Caleb took a step towards him and Tyler and Reid were eyeing Aaron's friends on either side of him.

"Yeah, sure," I said, rolling my eyes. "Whatever you say."

"You should come spend some time with me, baby," he said, taking a step towards me and touching my arm.

"Get your hands off of her!" Caleb yelled, truly pissed off now. I snatched my arm back and glared at him, fighting the orange glow that threatened to flash across my eyes.

Reid stepped in front of me to stand next to Caleb, and we all tensed.

"You owe my sister an apology," hissed Caleb.

Aaron looked at me and then shoved my brother back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said a short, muscular boy with sandy hair, separating my brother and Aaron. They stepped back, but they continued to glare at each other. Aaron was breathing hard.

Seeing a fight wasn't about to break out, Reid's eyes quickly became black. Seconds later, one of Aaron's friends threw up—directly onto him.

Reid and I burst out laughing as everyone else shrieked in dismay.

"Hey, hey guys!" The DJ's voice boomed out of the speakers, "just got a call. There are three cop cars coming up the road."

Exclaims of "Let's go" spread like wildfire among the group of teens and we all ran into the forest where all of the cars were parked.

"Need a ride?" asked Caleb to Kate.

"No, Sarah drove us over," Kate responded.

"I could use a lift," said the sandy-haired boy, appearing next to me. He smiled at me.

"Sure, no problem," Kate said.

"Chase," he said to everyone. "That guy's puking sure came at an opportune time," he laughed.

"Didn't it though?" chuckled Reid, ruffling my hair.

The cars came into view including Tyler's enormous black Hummer.

"Bye Sarah. It was nice to meet you!" I called over.

She flashed me a smile. "You, too, Charlotte! Hope to see you later." I grinned at her again before reaching the Hummer. Pogue crawled into the back first, then me, and then Caleb. Before he shut the door, I noticed how he continued to watch Sarah. She saw him looking at her and smiled and waved. Pogue noticed, too.

"Sarah wants you, man," Pogue laughed when Caleb squeezed in next to me.

Caleb grinned and I giggled. I liked Sarah. Up in the passenger's seat, Reid scowled.

"That's a load of crap," he muttered.

"Whoa, now, don't be jealous, Reid!" Pogue admonished him.

"My car won't start!" I heard Sarah's voice calling to us.

"Hop in with us," Tyler yelled.

"I can't just leave it here!"

"I can fix it for you," Reid called.

"Reid—don't," Caleb said.

"It's not over yet boys," Reid grinned slyly before slipping out of the car. He lifted the hood of her car and seconds later, the engine turned on. Reid flashed her a grin as she thanked him before turning back to the Hummer. I could hear sirens coming closer.

"Move over, Ty," Reid said, opening the front door.

"But it's my car!" protested Tyler.

"Move over, baby boy," I said. "Now!"

We pulled out with a lurch and soon the red and blue flashes of a police car's lights were behind us. Reid and Tyler guffawed.

"No sweat!" exclaimed Reid joyfully, and for the next few minutes we turned and swerved and jerked as we tried to lose them.

"You gotta stop," Caleb said, seeing them close in on us.

"Oh, you wanna stop?" asked Reid. "That'll impress Harvard."

"Come on, Caleb," I said, excitement filling my tone.

He sighed in surrender. "Oh, what the hell. Let's lose 'em. Cut across there. Might as well have some fun while we're at it."

We began to lead the cops on a long, confusing trail while we laughed until our sides hurt inside. Before long, the fog grew thicker and I knew we were approaching the cliff. Reid knew as well.

"Alright guys—" he started.

I made a point of clearing my throat loudly.

"And girl," Reid added, grinning in the mirror at me. "You ready?"

My brother looked hesitant. "Come on, Caleb," said Pogue. "It's gonna take all of us."

As we grew closer, we heard annoyingly long honks from the police car. They didn't think we knew about the cliff. Boy, were they in for a surprise.

Reid ignored the honks and stomped on the gas. We went even faster and adrenaline rushed through my veins. One by one, our eyes became pitch black as we waited for the land to disappear from under us.

The police gave one last honk before we were airborne. I screamed and giggled as the boys roared with laughter. We flew up high, flipped over before landing with a thud behind the police car.

The officers had gotten out and were looking over the cliff. Our landing made them jump, and I briefly saw their bewildered faces before we drove off with in a burst of laughter.

After our little game, we noticed it was close to midnight and we started for Caleb's and my house. Ten minutes later, we pulled up at the end of the long dirt driveway that led to our place. Pogue got onto his bike while Reid and Tyler stayed in the Hummer. Caleb and I jumped out, waved good-bye before the three of them took off towards Spencer. Caleb and I let ourselves in thought the huge, intimidating iron gate before beginning to walk up the winding driveway. My adrenaline had worn off and I shivered.

"Cold?" asked Caleb.

"I-I'm o-ok-kay," I forced out through chattering teeth.

"Here," Caleb said, taking off his coat and draping it over my shoulders. I smiled gratefully.

"Did you have fun?" asked Caleb.

"Except for the pervert touching me, I had a blast," I said.

"He won't to that again," Caleb promised.

"Don't worry about it," I said easily.

Caleb humphed, as if to say, _we'll see about that_. We were on the stone step now, and I stepped aside to let Caleb open the door. It creaked open and I winced as we stepped inside.

Caleb eased the door shut as I listened, hoping we hadn't awakened Mother. I smelled a whiff of fresh cigarette smoke and I knew she was still up. Caleb and I exchanged a knowing glance as we walked towards the stairs.

"You're home early." Mother's voice made us walk across the hall into the living room. She was sitting in her favorite chair, a bottle of alcohol on the table next on her. She'd been drinking again. Ever since our father had "died," she'd been frequently downing glass after glass of alcohol to help her pain over losing who he truly was now, and the handsome, strong, kind man he'd never be again. Sure enough, a picture of our father on her left. She exhaled, sending a cloud of blue smoke into the air.

"It's after midnight, Mother," I said, crossing the rooms and sitting down beside her. "What are you still doing up?"

"Thinking about my baby boy turning eighteen this week," she responded, looking over at Caleb, who stood in the doorway. "You look so much like him in this light."

I glanced at Caleb. He was frowning slightly. I turned back to my mother. Her eyes were a little clouded and bloodshot, the way they always were when she drank too much. She stroked my hand lightly. "You know he was a year younger then you when we met…did I ever tell you that?"

"Yeah, you've told us," Caleb said.

"Let's get you up to bed, Mother," I said, straightening up. I hated seeing her like this.

"So handsome," she continued, as if I hadn't said anything. "He was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen." She looked at the picture, then back at Caleb. "I'm so afraid I'm going to lose you like I did him."

Caleb crossed the room and stood next to me. "Char," he murmured so that Mother wouldn't hear—though she was immersed in the picture again—"you go up to bed. I'll stay down here and get her settled in a little while."

"You sure?" I asked. I didn't want to leave him alone with her for who knows how long.

"Yeah, you go on. It's late."

"Alright. Night Caleb."

"G'night, Charlotte."

"Night, Mother," I added hesitantly.

Her cloudy eyes turned to me and she smiled softly. "Good night dear."

I walked quietly out of the room and across the hall to the main staircase. When I got to the second floor, it was dark. I walked slowly, flipping lights on as I went. My room was at the end of the hall, across from Caleb's, and I walked in and closed the door gratefully. Our family knew first-hand what the Power could do. Sure, it was cool, and it did come in handy, but it also was seductive and dangerous if you abused it. I brushed my teeth, shivered into my pajamas and got under the cold covers. As soon as the light was off, my mind began to wander—Caleb's birthday was in just a few days...


	2. Chapter 2

I had a hard time falling asleep that night. The pattering of the rain hitting the windows and the constant booming of thunder didn't help at all. I finally dozed off around one thirty.

I'd been sleeping soundly when I felt something—a blast of cold air. My eyes flew open with a start as I sat up in bed. I rubbed my eyes as I searched for the clock. Two on the dot. My eyes scanned my room. I'd felt something—I _had_—something light and icy cold. I couldn't see anything that resembled a ghost or some other demonic thing and for one wild second I thought maybe one of the boys was playing a trick on me.

Suddenly, another rush of air flew through the room, encircled me and vanished. I hadn't seen anything, but I was positive that something had happened, something that couldn't be blamed on exhaustion or dreams. I was wide awake. I had an idea of what it was but it was so ridiculous that I nearly lay back down. A third final wave of freezing air washed over me and I hopped out of bed, threw the door open and sprinted to Caleb's room.

Thunder boomed as I stood in front of Caleb's door, freaking me out. I debated whether to knock or just barge right in. _He's my brother_, I thought. I barged right in.

He was sitting up in his bed, leaning against the enormous headboard, staring out the window as lighting flashed, revealing me in the doorway. He jumped.

"Damn it, Char!" he gasped. "Don't _do_ that!"

"Sorry," I responded, padding over to his bed before another peal of thunder could catch me off guard. "I didn't think you'd be awake."

"That doesn't give you an excuse to scare me to death."

"Caleb, I'm sorry. Calm down," I sighed. "That's not why I came. Did you feel that—that rush? It was a blast of cold air, like when you open up the freezer in hot weather."

His face clouded. "Yeah, that's why I'm up. I was sleeping pretty soundly, too—I didn't even know there was a thunderstorm."

I sat on the edge of his bed. "What do you think it was?"

"I have a pretty good idea," he said.

"I think someone was using the Power," I said. "I mean, we both felt it—multiple times—what else could it be?"

"Yeah, that's what I thought, but who would use it in the middle of the night?" he mused. We were quiet for a second, thinking.

"Reid." We said it at the same time and exchanged a knowing glance. Reid was the most careless with the Power out of the five of us—it'd be just like him to do that.

"It had to be him, who else would use it at this time of night?" I said.

"I'll ask him tomorrow—I'm going to call Pogue. I wonder if he felt it. Go back to bed. Come tell me if you feel it again."

"Kay." I hurried back across the hall, looking around nervously as if there was some sort of spirit thing lurking in the shadows watching me. _Get a grip_, I told myself as I dove into the warm covers. _It's just Reid. . .it has to be_. Who else was there? I was asleep before I could think of an answer.

Luckily, I slept soundly for the rest of the night. As far as I knew, no other blasts of cold air had come back. The grey morning air woke me up eight—too early for a Saturday morning, but once I was up, I was up for good. It was the first week of September, and though it was still technically summer, it felt like an autumn day.

I shivered into a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt and quickly glanced at a mirror and the results sent me scrambling for a hair band to hide the mess of my hair before going downstairs for breakfast.

Caleb was already awake. I found him in the kitchen scrambling eggs. Mother was nowhere to be seen.

"Morning, Char," he said.

"Hey." I walked to the cupboard and pulled out a box of cereal.

"You didn't see or hear anything else last night, did you?" he asked.

"No…you?"

"I didn't, at least I don't I did."

"What did Pogue say?" I asked between bites.

"He felt something similar, so it wasn't just us. I haven't asked Tyler, though I doubt it was him."

"He was probably dead to the world."

"Yep." He finished the eggs and piled them on a plate.

"Mom still sleeping?"

"Yeah. Finally got her to go to bed around one. She was really messed up." He sighed. "These last few months have been really hard on her—and my birthday around the corner doesn't help anything."

"Not your fault—it's gonna happen anyway."

"I know, I just have a lot to think about right now. Have you seen this?" he asked, sitting down across from me, plopping his plate of eggs down in front of him. He passed today's newspaper to me. In the center of the front page was an article that immediately grabbed my attention.

**Student Found Dead From Overdose**

"Whoa," I murmured. "This must've happened last night, soon after we left…"

"I was thinking that. This kid went to Spencer. Don't kill me for thinking this, but those blasts of cold air happened in the middle of the night and Reid probably didn't get back until close to two. . .you don't think…?"

I shook my head repeatedly. "No. No way. Reid wouldn't do something like that. He may use it a lot, and he may act like a jerk sometimes, but he would never kill a person."

He sighed. "I know…I just couldn't help but think that. I know he wouldn't do anything like that."

"So, anyway, what were you planning to do? I need to get some stuff for school and it's raining anyway, so we can't go outside…" I smiled a little grin. "Would you please take me to the store?"

"Yeah, if you put the puppy dog face away. I need to get Mom a few things anyway. So," he looked over at the clock, "should we go by nine?"

Nine. That gave me forty minutes to get ready. "Yeah. That's fine. Sounds good."

"Okay. Don't slack."

"I won't." I stood up, took my dish to the sink and rinsed it. "I'm going to go get ready."

"Okay."

When I got to my room, I changed into jeans and grabbed a hoodie. I was mad that it was this chilly this early. I hoped it was be temporary. I went to the bathroom next to try and tame the mess of hair. It took awhile, but I succeeded.

Next order of business was makeup, finding socks and shoes and getting money. I was done by quarter to nine and I nagged Caleb to leave a little earlier since he was ready to go by the time I was. He agreed—only after I bugged him for awhile.

The rain had gone but the air was misty and damp. As soon as we were in the car, I fiddled with the knobs to get the heat to come on. I turned on the heat to maximum. Caleb turned to me as warm air gushed from the vents.

"Really?" he asked. "It's September."

"It's freezing," I shivered. "Just leave it on until the car warms up."

"Fine." We pulled out of the driveway and soon we were on the main road. It was lined on both sides with trees with their colors in the middle of changing for the fall. The oranges, yellows, greens and red mixed together as we drove, creating a beautiful, dizzying blur.

Caleb was on the phone now with Pogue. I strained to hear what they were saying, without being too obvious.

"What makes you think it was Reid?" asked Pogue.

"It's always him," Caleb responded. "But I've never felt it when one of us have used the Power before."

"Maybe it's because you're so close to ascending."

"Charlotte felt it, too—three times—last night."

"Maybe because you live in the same house, because you were so close to each other? Maybe because you're brother and sister?"

"I don't know, but it was strong enough to wake me out of a dead sleep."  
I nodded in agreement even though Pogue couldn't see me.

Pogue lowered his voice significantly and I strained to hear. "You know he's only using his powers to piss you off because he's jealous you're ascending first."

Suddenly in front of me was a figure that looked identical to the dead kid in the newspaper. I screamed and Caleb looked over and yelled. His phone fell to the floor. Before our eyes, the kid's face changed in a grotesque way before his neck stretched so far that it was breaking off. He vanished before our eyes a second later. I was breathing hard and Caleb and I shared on look: _What the hell was that? _I looked out the front window and we were suddenly in the path of an oncoming semi.

"Caleb!" I screamed.

Expletives from Caleb lit the air as the semi came closer. I gripped the sides of the seat so tightly my hands were bone white.

"Charlotte." Caleb looked at me and nodded. Our eyes went black.

We collided with the semi then—metal screeching and twisting, glass shattering and breaking. I screamed even though I didn't feel any pain. It was like being on a roller coaster right as you were going down the first enormous drop.

We passed through the truck and skidded to a stop. Caleb was panting hard and I was lightheaded. Behind us, the semi was unscathed and was driving away.

"You okay?" Caleb panted.

"Yeah…you?"

"Fine. That was really close."

"Ya think?"

I could hear Pogue's voice yelling through Caleb's phone from where it lay by my feet. Caleb eased slowly onto the road again as I put his phone on speaker.

"Caleb! Charlotte! Pick up the phone! What's going on? Caleb, man, pick up the phone!"

"Pogue, it's me. Calm down. We're okay."

"Char?" he asked.

"Yeah. Caleb's driving."

"What happened?"

"Pogue, I—we—just saw a darkling. It was in the form of that dead kid from Spencer."

"Yeah, I saw his face in the newspaper. But who would send you guys a darkling?"

"I don't know…but something's wrong. I can feel it." Caleb leaned over and spoke into the phone now.

"Look, we gotta talk to Reid tonight. He'll be at Nicky's so we'll see him then."

"Yeah. Definitely. I'm giving the phone back to Charlotte. See you later."

"Bye Caleb."

"Hey Pogue," I said. "It's me again."

"Hey Char. You okay?"

"Yeah…kinda freaked out, but I'm okay."

"Well, I'm getting my bike fixed now. Take care of yourselves."

"Will do…see you later."

"Bye Charlotte."

"Bye."

We drove in silence until we pulled up in front of on the store. Caleb went straight to the pharmacy to pick up some pills for Mother while I went to the magazines to see if there were any new issues.

"Charlotte?" a female voice asked.

I turned to see Sarah coming up the aisle with a basket slung over her arm.

"Hey Sarah," I grinned. "Long time no see."

"I'll say. What are you getting?"

"Oh, stuff. I told Caleb that I needed school stuff but I really wanted to get some new magazines and to get out of the house." I winked at her.

She laughed. "Is he here too?"

"Yeah…he's just getting my mom some medicine."

"Oh," a small smile crept onto her face. "Kate told me about your dad. I'm really sorry."

"Yeah," my face fell. "Thanks."

Kate came around the corner and the sandy-haired boy—Chase—on her heels.

"Hey Charlotte!"

"Hi Kate," I grinned. "And Chase," I nodded to him.

"Charlotte." He extended his fist and with a laugh, I punched it.

Caleb came around the corner and grinned. "Look's like the whole school's here."

"Pretty close," smiled Kate.

"Hey man." Chase held out his hand.

"Hey." Caleb shook his hand and dropped it. "Hi Sarah."

She responded with a grin—noticeably larger then the one she greeted me with. I smiled inwardly. I'd see what I could do to hook them up.

"Well, I'm gonna go see if Pogue wants to go see that new Brad Pitt flick this afternoon. Who else wanted to go?"

"I will," said Chase.

"I've got errands to run," was Caleb's answer.

"I've already seen it," Sarah responded and Kate shot her a sly grin.

"Wanna run errands?" asked Caleb to Sarah.

"Sure."

"I'll go to the movie," I said. It looked pretty good and what else was I supposed to do on a rainy Saturday? Also, Caleb could be with Sarah.

"Okay. I'll see if Pogue wants to go. I'll come pick you up around two, Char," Kate responded.

Caleb and Sarah worked out times while Kate and I paid for everything. On the drive home I kept expecting the dead kid to reappear. I shivered at the way his head had just broken off of his body before disappearing.

We got back home without anymore demonic intrusions. Caleb gave slipped into Mother's room to give her the medicine and then he had to go get Sarah.

"Bye loverboy," I said. "Be good."

"If I wasn't running late I would pound you," he said.

"Then get out of here!"

Kate picked my up at quarter to two. It was just she and I. She said that Pogue hadn't been able to come and that Chase would get there on his own.

The movie was long, and it kind of sucked. There were some good fight scenes but that was about it. When I got home, it was five and Caleb was already there.

"Hey, bro," I said, flinging my stuff onto the floor before flopping onto the couch adjacent him.

"Hey…how was the movie?" He didn't look up from the book he was reading.

"It sucked for the most part."  
"Oh, glad I didn't go."

"I'm sure you're glad," I muttered.

"What?"

"How was 'running errands'?"  
"Fine."

"Come on, Caleb, you know you had fun."

"Okay, fine. I did, but I don't think I'll take her back to the colony house. Gorman took a shot at us."

I laughed. "Poor Sarah. Our family is so bizarre."

"Yeah, but she seemed okay. She's pretty easygoing."

"You like her, don't you?"

"Char, don't even go there. We're friends."

"Caleb James Danvers, there's more to it then that and you know it," I cried.

"Okay, okay. She's pretty and fun to be with and has a good sense of humor. Happy?"

"For now." I sat up. "What time are we supposed to go to Nicky's?"

"We're supposed to be there by 5:30."

"I'm going to go get ready. Mom still sleeping?"

"Yeah. She seems to be better. I think we should just let her rest."

I decided to put on a tank top because Nicky's was always overheated—and there were always cute boys there. I applied a fresh bit of make-up and put on my jean capris before dragging Caleb out the door.

It was crowed and noisy when we walked inside. Caleb especially went there regularly, and because I was his sister, everyone knew me. I sat with Kate, Sarah, Chase and Caleb talking about the movie until Pogue came by. When he walked in, Kate had been laughing at something Chase had said and I could tell he didn't look too happy. Seeing the foosball table was open, Caleb and Chase went to go take advantage of the situation. I sat for a minute before going after them.

"You guys are real tight huh?" Chase was saying.

"Yeah, our families are real close. We grew up together. Kinda like brothers."

"And sister," I added. Chase looked at me.

"You're Charlotte, right?"

"Yeah."

"How old are you?"

"I'm fifteen."

"Wow," he said, looking genuinely surprised. "I thought you were sixteen or seventeen."

I laughed. "Caleb's seventeen. I'll be sixteen in January."

Caleb lost the game and then I asked to play. We were soon fighting for the ball and he seemed surprised that I gave him a real fight. Pogue came by and informed us that Reid and Tyler were here—and so were Aaron and his group.

"Great. That's trouble," Caleb said.

"So Caleb tells me you guys are swimmers," Chase said.

"Spencer's best. State finals twice." I responded, concentrating on the ball.

"You are, too?" he asked.

"Yeah. She's killer at the butterfly." Caleb looked at me with pride. I grinned.

"I'm a freestyle man," Chase laughed.

"Not here," said Pogue. "That's Caleb's swim."

Chase laughed again and for the next few minutes we concentrated on the game. I won buy four points and I could tell Caleb and Pogue was fighting back the urge to laugh. Joan Jett's 'I Love Rock and Roll' came blaring out of the speakers and Sarah walked over and pulled Caleb to the dance floor. They soon were dancing and laughing and singing along to the music.

Over by the pool table, I heard a smash and I turned to see Reid shove Aaron and get shoved back. More glass shattered and I saw Pogue weaving his way towards Caleb before the two of them went over to Reid and Tyler. I could tell that both Aaron and Reid were pissed and that a fight was closing to breaking out.

Chase came over to me and told me to come over to sit with Kate and Sarah. I sat on the edge of my seat anxiously, though I knew the boys could take care of themselves and then some. I saw Nicky go towards the door they'd gone out with a baseball bat before coming back in. Aaron and his friends came in and as soon as they'd left, I jumped up and went to the door.

On the other side I could hear yells and glass shattering. My mouth became dry. Aaron had already gone so the must be fighting amongst each other—and they were probably using It, the morons. I couldn't make out most of what was being said, but I could understand a little.

"When you ascend you'll be as good as dead!" That was Caleb, no doubt.

"I didn't use later!" Was the next thing I heard and I recognized the voice as Reid's. Seconds later, he came through the door. He was panting and his eyes with dark with anger. He threw one glance at me, and then shuffled off out of my sight. I cracked the door open a little.

"It's not right using it on each other, Caleb," Tyler said. I couldn't see my brother's face, but I knew he was mad.

"Tell it to Reid," he shot back.

Tyler left and walked past me. My eyes asked him if everything was okay and he shook his head.

"Reid's lying," said Caleb, running his fingers through his hair. "Had to have been him."

"How do you know?" asked Pogue.

"Because it wasn't you or Charlotte, Tyler doesn't have the guts to lie to me—"

I opened the door all the way then. "Hey."

They turned. "Hey," answered Caleb. That was all he said out loud but his eyes asked me how long I'd been standing there.

"You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Pogue said for the both of them.

"Let's go," I said. "Everyone's wondering where you are."

"Yeah, let's get out of here."

I rode home with Sarah and Caleb, who dropped me off first before leaving to take Sarah back to Spencer. I sent him off with a knowing look. This was what I'd been hoping for. After seeing how he acted at the party the night before, then asking Sarah to run errands with him, and then the two of them dancing with each other at Nicky's, I just knew that they were good for each other.

It was ten when I got inside—not too late but last night's lack of sleep was weighing on me so I checked on Mother before turning in.

With a grateful sigh, I slipped under the covers and turned out the light, feeling pretty content. Mother was better, Caleb was with Sarah and there'd been no more signs of someone using the Power like last night. I fell asleep easily, but the night proved to be terrifying.


	3. Chapter 3

Nightmare after nightmare traumatized my sleep that night. It was the same dream, every time. Spiders, thousands of them, were everywhere, all over my bed, my room, my walls, myself, and no matter what I did, no matter how many I killed, no matter how long I screamed, they kept coming.

I'd wake up in a cold sweat, only to fall asleep and relive the dream again. After it'd happened a third time, I decided it had to have meant something. I worked to stay awake, curious if I'd feel any blasts of air or see any demonic things in the form of dead kids. After thirty-five minutes of lying in the dark, blankets pulled up all around me, I began to doze off.

I was almost a goner when a sudden interruption forced me back into consciousness. The ghastly, contorted face of the darkling appeared once again before, at the edge of my bed. My eyes widened with horror, but I didn't have time to scream. Its neck had already stretched off, and with one final gory look, it disappeared completely, vanishing as quickly as it had come.

I waited five seconds to make sure it was really gone—the last thing I wanted was for a demented head following me in the dark—before dashing to Caleb's room. I didn't want to look like a freaked out little girl, but he'd told me to tell him if I saw, felt or heard anything strange. Besides, he himself _had_ screamed like a little kid when the face appeared before us in the car.

When five seconds were up—and I counted—I hurried across the hall and threw open the door to Caleb's room. Just like that night before, he was awake. There was no thunder, only the light pattering of rain on the windows, so he heard me.

He looked up. "What's up?"

"I saw it again."

He didn't need to ask what "It" was. "When?"

"Ten seconds ago, literally."

The shrill ringing of his phone made us both jump. He groaned and reached over to pick it up. The floorboards were chilly, so I perched on the base of his bed frame, my feet on the blankets.

"It's Pogue," he mouthed.

I nodded.

"Yeah?" Caleb winced as he sat up. He was shirtless and sweaty. I grimaced.

"Honestly, Caleb, is it so hard to wear a shirt?"

He held up a finger, clutching the phone to his ear to hear what Pogue was saying.

"Put it on speaker," I whispered, and soon both of us could hear Pogue's voice.

"I just saw that same darkling you and Char saw—that dead kid at the Dells." His voice sounded a little nervous. "What the hell is it?"

"Hey, Pogue," I said, leaning closer to the phone.

"Charlotte?" he asked.

"Who else?" I said. "I just saw it, too, like thirty seconds before you called."

I heard him mutter something on the other end—it sounded like a swear word.

"To answer your question, Pogue," Caleb said, taking the phone back, "I don't know what it is. But it's starting to freak me out. I tell you, someone's using the Power, and I mean big time. I intend to find out who."

"_We_ intend to," I corrected automatically.

The line went silent, and Caleb hung up.

"Go back to sleep, Char," he said. "We'll worry about this tomorrow."

Wearily, I trudged back to my room, fell onto my bed, somehow got myself under the covers, and fell asleep.

The next morning dawned cloudy and…grey. There was no other way to put it. Grey days—though they were the norm in Ipswich—were a pain. Still tired from being up last night, and from worrying, I overslept, and therefore, was in a rush to get ready.

I threw on the ugly Spencer uniform—which consisted of a horrid turtleneck sweater, a tacky knee-length skirt, and long, itchy stockings. Pinning my hair into a messy knot at the nape of my neck, I hurried downstairs. I knew I couldn't make breakfast, so I grabbed a granola bar. Caleb had pulled the car around and was honking like crazy outside. Knowing his irritation would grow the longer I took, I proceeded to do my makeup in the car on the way to school.

Caleb was tired too, and grouchier than usual.

"Don't get makeup on the seats, Char," he moaned when I dropped my blush brush.

"We just went over a freaking pot hole! Calm down!"

"Just be careful with it," he growled again.

We pulled into the Spencer parking lot just as the first bell began to ring. I threw my makeup into my messenger bag and slung it over my shoulder. It was hard to run when I was heavier on one side, so I settled for a crazy sprint.

We burst into our first class, breathless, but we were lucky. People were still milling around. I hated this room. It was so stiff and awkward. It looked too much like a building from Washington D.C. then for a high school classroom. The seats were on one side, rising up higher and higher, with high-backed benches covered in ugly blue fabric, which were horribly itchy.

I found my seat in the middle of the circular seats, sitting with Sarah and Kate. Caleb went to sit with Pogue a few rows down. I scanned the room for Tyler and Reid, spotting the latter next to a few of his other friends. He shot me a hard smile, and I knew he was still pissed from last night.

"Good morning," the teacher said. He looked so tiny from where I was sitting—another this that aggravated me about this room—the bizarre height thing.

"Mr. Danvers," the teacher said. My head snapped up. "Provost Higgins requests the pleasure of your company after class."

I pulled out my cell phone—this was one of the few benefits of this room…we could text without getting caught—and my fingers flew across the keyboard.

_**What did you do?**_I sent.

_Really?_ He responded.

_**Come on.**_

_You shouldn't be texting in class_.

_**Hypocrite. You do it all this time.**_

_Only when the lesson is boring._

_**The lessons are always boring!**_

_No, they aren't._

_**Answer the freaking question Caleb.**_

_I don't know. _

_**Yes, you do.**_

_No, I don't._

_**Fine. Be like that.**_

_Like what?_

_**Oh, never mind. **_

I slid my phone shut with a sigh.

"You okay?" asked Sarah.

I found a smile for her. "Yeah."

"Now, we're going to study four American contemporary writers of fiction," came the teacher's voice. "Cormac McCarthy, Tim O'Brien, Kent Haruf, and last, but certainly not least, Stephen King."

"Yeaaaaaah!" Reid's mocking voice came from above us. "_Dreamcatcher _was the bomb!"

I burst out guffawing before I could stop myself. Caleb looked at me sharply, as he'd heard my loud outburst. He could he _not_ have heard me? I was known for my loud, snorting laughter. He shook his head slightly. I tried to restrain my giggles, but I was not alone. Snickers and laughter erupted from all over the cavernous room.

"Thank you, Mr. Garwin,but my choice is _The Shining_."

Reid smiled tightly, which made me start laughing again.

"Miss Danvers, is there a problem?"

I blushed. "No, sir."

Class seemed impossibly long and boring after that. Caleb slipped out right before class ended. I stood and chatted with Sarah and Kate and Pogue for a little while after class before leaving, too. I hurried down the halls towards the headmaster's office, hoping to get there before classes started switching.

I got there quickly and no one was around so I slumped down against the wall and rubbed my temples. I could feel the makeshift knot of hair on my neck begin to fall, and I began to pull the bobby pins that held it in place one by one. The door opened and Caleb stepped out.

"What are you doing down there?" he asked.

"Cleaning the floor with this ugly uniform," I said sarcastically. "What do you think I'm doing, Caleb? I'm waiting for you."

He muttered something and started walked. I jumped up and followed him. "Well, what did he say?" I huffed, struggling to pull my bag over my shoulder.

"Nothing. Just asked me about Chase, the kid who died at the Dells and the fight at Nicky's."

I cussed under my breath. "Screw Aaron. That can't be good."

"It's nothing," he assured me. "I hope."

Classes were changing, so we said good-bye. He headed to chemistry and I had free period, so I went to the library.

I found Sarah hunched over a book, reading intently. I looked over her shoulder, scanning for the title. I couldn't find it, but I recognized the color and the binding…and my heart sped up. It looked like the _Chronicles of Paganism_. She was immersed, so she didn't hear me behind her.

_Damn,_ I thought. _Our family history. _

"Hey Sarah!" I said.

She jumped. "Hey."

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's okay."

"What are you reading?" I asked, pulling up a chair next to her.

"_Chronicles of Paganism_," she said. "It's for a project."

I looked at the page that she'd been reading. I scanned it…and four words stood out. They were surnames, ours to be exact. _Danvers, Simms, Garwin and Perry. _Great. Wonderful. Fantastic.

"Uh, find any of these books interesting?" I asked, desperate to distract her with another story, though I didn't need to, because Kate came up and claimed her attention.

After school, we had swim practice. I sat talking with Reid and Tyler when Pogue and Caleb joined us.

"So what did the provost want?" asked Tyler.

"Someone told him about the fight at Nicky's," Caleb responded, running his hands through his hair.

"Aaron can go straight to hell," muttered Reid. I poked him and he and I shared a grin.

"Feel like elaborating on that?" asked Reid, eyeing Caleb.

"You gotta piece of glass in your face," said Pogue.

Reid grinned and slapped his hand away. Tyler and Caleb laughed. I smiled. It was good to have things back to normal.

Caleb had dinner with Sarah after swim practice, and Mother was away with friends, which didn't happen often, but I was glad. I rarely got the house to myself.

I changed into sweats as soon as I got home and then I pulled my wet hair into a ponytail. I flopped on my bed after that, just staring at the ceiling. It was quiet…too quiet. I leaned over and picked a random song from my iPod and hit play.

Paramore's "Misery Business" came on and I closed my eyes, listening to the lyrics and focusing on them…refusing to let my mind wander to anything but the song. Things began to fade and darkness began to take over…

My eyes flew open. The light was still on, but I had no idea of what time it was. It was dark outside, and I sat up, fumbling around for the iPod speaker remote. The music had been playing the entire time I'd been asleep. The clock said eleven ten, which meant I'd been sleeping for nearly six hours.

I groaned, kicked off my slippers and slid under the covers. I was asleep as soon as I turned the light off.

**Sorry it took me so long to update! I've been very busy lately, but things have calmed down significantly, so now I can write. Yay! This chapter was a little slower, but the next one will be better. Please review! **


	4. Chapter 4

I hadn't fallen asleep when I heard Caleb's feet coming up the stairs. I grinned. _Lover boy's back. _I heard the footsteps turn down the hallway and hesitate outside my door. He was probably wondering if I was still up or not.

"I'm awake!" I called, getting up to flip on another light. My back was to the door when I heard it creak open.

"Hey!" I said, my back still to the door. "How'd it go?"

He didn't answer.

"Tired?" I asked.

He didn't answer.

Puzzled, I turned. "Holy _crap_!"

There, at the entrance to my room, the black hall surrounding him, was the darkling. He just stood there, watching me, and for the first time, I could really look at him—that is, when I wasn't blinking, trying to make sure I wasn't imagining things.

His skin was an abnormal white color, scaly and slimy, like an amphibian's. Apart from the skin, and the horrible, foggy blue eyes, he looked the same as he had in his human life. I remembered seeing him as a human once or twice, so I had an idea of what he'd looked like.

That was all I got to observe. The face stretched, twisted and disappeared before my eyes. When it was gone, I realized I was still clutching the neck of the floor lamp. I unclamped my fingers and shook them. I'd held onto the lamp so tightly they were cramping. Cautiously, never taking my eyes off of the door, I dashed towards it and slammed it shut, locking it feverishly. I knew I would do nothing to stop the darkling,

but something about it made me feel safer.

I picked up my phone and stared at it, debating on who to call. Caleb was with Sarah, Tyler was probably asleep, Reid couldn't answer his phone to safe his life, so I was left with Pogue.

He picked up on the third ring. "Yeah?"

"Pogue, it's Charlotte."

He could hear the panic in my voice. "Char? You okay?"

"Yes, I mean no. I mean, I'm okay, but I'm alone and freaked out."

"Did you see it again?"

"How did you know?"

"I just saw it, too."

"Damn. Like, just now?" I asked, getting up and pacing.  
"Yeah."

I sat down on my bed, putting my head in my hands. "I don't like this."

"I don't either," he sighed. "You want me to come over?"

"No, it's okay, thanks. Caleb should be home soon."

"You sure?"

"Yeah…I hear my mom coming. Talk to you soon."

"Bye Char."  
I ended the phone call just as my mom came in. "I thought I heard you scream. Are you okay?"

She hadn't been drinking, and she looked genuinely concerned. "Yeah, thanks."

"Why did you scream?"  
"Uh…bad dream." I rolled my eyes internally at the lame excuse.

"Alright. Call me if you need anything."

"Kay, thanks, Mom."

I turned off all the lights except my bedside one. There was no way I was going to sleep in the dark.

A thunderstorm awakened me the next morning. I loved thunderstorms. There was something eerie and mysterious and fascinating about them. I dragged my blanket off of my bed and wrapped myself in it before sitting on my window seat to watch the downpour.

I sat there until my alarm rang, then I grudgingly got ready for school. Caleb was in a very happy mood this morning. He looks just like Charlie Brown when he's happy. He floats around, face upward, grinning nonstop. I wanted to laugh, like I usually do when he's that way, but I couldn't. I didn't want to.

At swim that day, we didn't have an official practice because our normal swim coach was absent so we had a substitute, who let us do what we wanted to, so we decided to have a free day.

Pogue, Reid, Tyler, Caleb and I decided to race each other. Tyler and I jumped in first and did the butterfly, my best stroke. I beat him easily, though we just barely tied when we swam freestyle.

Caleb raced Reid on the backstroke, and the two tied. Pogue and I raced breaststroke, and Pogue won. We'd just gotten out of the pool, laughing and pushing each other, when Chase came up to our group. Pogue's smile disappeared and he stiffened.

"That was good," Chase grinned. "You're really good at the butterfly, Charlotte."

"Thanks. Wanna race?"

"Sure," he smiled.

"What stroke?"

"Front crawl," he said.

"Sounds good." Front crawl was my second best stroke. We jumped into the deep end. A small crowd had gathered and I took a deep breath, adjusting my goggles into place before gripping the pool's edge.

"Ready?" Caleb asked.

We nodded.

"Go!"  
The second the word was out of his mouth, I took off, swimming as hard as I've ever swam before. Chase was good, he was definitely stronger, but I was slimmer and quicker. It was very close.

Whenever I came up for air, I heard the boys cheering for me. It encouraged me, pushing me to go even faster.

We reached the other end, and I heard many voices.

"Come on, Char!" That was Caleb.

"Whoop his butt for me Charlotte!" yelled Reid. I nearly laughed, then remembered I was in a pool, which would me inhaling chlorinated water, which would not have been pretty.

"Almost there!" Wasn't sure who that was.

We were in the home stretch, neck to neck. I grabbed one last big gulp of oxygen, and threw myself into the stroke. My hand slapped the wall seconds before him and a round of applause came from everyone.

My head popped out of the water and I yanked my goggles off. Caleb and Pogue each held out a hand for me and pulled me up.

"Well done, Char!" Caleb said.

"That was justice, in my eyes," commented Reid.

"Well done," Chase grinned, coming over. "You really are good."

"Thanks," I said. "You did really well, too."

He extended his fist and I punched it.

"So you're swimming freestyle?" asked Caleb.

"That's what they tell me," said Chase.

"Let's see what you got."

The two of them dove in and took off. I felt that Caleb had an unfair advantage because Chase had just raced, but that didn't seem to be the case. They stayed right next to each other.

"Alright, Caleb!" I shouted. "Come on!"

"Push off!" suggested Tyler as they neared the other end.

"Come on, Caleb," Pogue said, clapping his hands.

They were on their way back now, still very close. Suddenly, Chase shot forward with what seemed to be a last burst of energy and his hand slapped the wall.

Caleb slammed into the wall and didn't come up.

"He's being a sore loser," Reid remarked.

He still didn't surface. He just seemed to be hovering down near the bottom of the fifteen-foot deep end.

"It's too long!" I said, worried now. "He's not moving!"

Pogue and Chase dove in while the Tyler, Reid and I leaned over the edge. Together, we managed to get him up. He was knocked out, but he wasn't too hurt. He began to come to after about five minutes.

We knelt over him, waiting for him to come around. He blinked and moaned a little and his eyes fluttered open.

"Caleb?" I asked.

His eyes seemed to focus.

"There you are," said Chase. "You had us going for a second."

"You whammed your head pretty hard," said Pogue.

"You okay, man?" asked Tyler. "Lucky for you we were all here to get you out before you sucked up the pool."

"He also whooped your butt," Reid informed.

"Yeah," Caleb groaned, sitting up. "I'm okay."

Practice was over by then, and almost everyone had gone to the showers. As I headed there, my mind kept wondering back to Caleb. He was an excellent swimmer…the incident in the pool surprised me, especially that he hadn't won. He'd been rested while Chase had just finished a race. He was the best at the front crawl, and the fact that he'd smacked his head was a little hard to believe for someone as cautious and careful as Caleb.

I sat with Tyler and Reid in next period. The class was long. I thought the lesson had something to do with the Constitution and the government but I wasn't really sure. Not that I really cared. Everyone passed that class, regardless of who actually paid attention and did the work.

Reid fell asleep ten minutes into class, draped over the back of the seat in front of us. His hand still held his pencil, and his mouth hung open. I put my feet up on the seat in front of me and doodled on my binder. Tyler was the only one of us who actually seemed to know what was being taught, but I caught him nodding off more than once.

There was a knock at the door that interrupted the teacher's lecture. A girl walked in and delivered a note.

"Twelve amendments were suggested, ten eventually ratified, called what, Miss Snider?" continued the teacher.

"The Bill of Rights," she replied smugly, never ceasing her irritating game of playing with Aaron's hair.

"Loser," I coughed from my seat above her.

She turned around and glared at me. I waved.

"Right you are," the teacher said, oblivious to our exchange. "Arguably the first being the most important, read it for us, Mr. Simms."

I pulled Tyler's hair and pointed to where we were before kicking Reid awake.

The teacher read the note and scanned the room until he found Chase. "Mr. Collins, you're wanted in the provost's office."

Chase looked surprised but began to gather his things. I caught Pogue and Caleb exchanging a look.

"Mr. Simms," the teacher said. "Please continue."

Tyler started reading the familiar dialogue, which I tuned out. Chase caught my eye and smiled. I grinned back, and he did the same to Caleb, who offered a hard smile in his direction before Chase left.

I saw a look in Caleb's eyes. He looked suspicious and a little jealous, though I had no idea why. _Boys_, I thought, shaking my head. They were bizarre.

**Well, I decided to go ahead and upload a new chapter right away, to make up for being MIA for a month. Hope you enjoy…reviews are always welcome!**


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day dragged by. After school, Pogue, Reid and Tyler came over to our place. It was not raining, so we decided to shoot hoops around back.

"What do you think the provost wanted from Chase?" I asked.

"I don't know," said Pogue, taking a shot. "I really don't care. I don't even like the guy."

"Why not?" demanded Reid.

"He just looks like he's hiding something," said Pogue. "And he's so cocky…gosh, I don't know! He just irritates me."

"Is it because Kate likes hanging with him?" asked Tyler slyly, dribbling away quickly before Pogue could send his ball towards his face.

"Shut up. I—I already asked her about that. Kate just thinks I'm jealous."

"Well, you _are_," I said. "Hey, don't look at me that way! You know you have issues with jealousy!"

He muttered something unintelligible. Throughout our little spazz, Caleb stayed silent. A few minutes later, Tyler got a call from his mother asking him to come home. Reid left, too, probably because it'd started to rain.

Caleb, Pogue and I moved inside. Mother wasn't home. I went into the living room and put in the first _Underworld_ movie and flopped on the couch. Caleb and Reid drifted in and slumped in the armchairs on either side of the couch. Pogue and I watched the movie intently—it was one of our group's favorites…it was cool to watch movies on other supernatural creatures that weren't witches, because then we couldn't judge the directors or make fun of the fake, Hollywood-esque myths—but Caleb seemed oddly distracted. He got up and began to pace, his mind and eyes miles away. He eventually stopped in front of the TV, right in the middle of the best fight scene.

"Dude, Caleb, get out of the way!" Pogue hissed, he and I struggling to see around Caleb's tall form.

"What? Oh, sorry," he muttered. By the time he actually got out of the way, the fight was over. I groaned and reached for the remote and flicked the TV off. There was no point in watching it now. I sat up and faced Caleb.

"What is your problem?" I demanded.

"Chase," he groaned, slumping back down in his chair. "There's something about him—" Caleb locked eyes with Pogue— "that I just don't like. Not after the race today in the pool."

"Aw, don't be a sore loser," I said, though deep inside, I felt that Chase _was_ a bit strange.

"I'm going to find out more about him," Caleb declared suddenly, rising to his feet.

"How?" demanded Pogue, on his feet as well. Even though I had no idea of what they were talking about, I stood up too, feeling a little out of place to be sitting.

"Just shut up and follow me."

I grabbed a hoodie, seeing the rain outside, and followed them. The next thing I knew, we'd pulled up in front of Spencer. It was dark and cloudy. Our only light was from the occasional flash of lightning. Spencer looked intimidating and dark in the eerie light. _Like something out of a low-budget horror film_, I smirked.

We slipped out of his car, which he'd parked in the parking lot so he didn't look out of place, and hurried out into the rain, trying to keep to the shadows, though there was only a small amount people outdoors because of the storm, and the few that were out there were hurrying under large black umbrellas towards shelter.

As we walked down an alley lined on one side by a dark, imposing brick wall and a tall, pointed-topped iron fence, Caleb's phone rang. _Great_, I thought._ All of our attempts to remain unnoticed are gonna be for nothing if he doesn't shut his phone up._

He picked up his phone hurriedly. "Yeah?"

"Am I gonna see you tonight?" asked Sarah. The three of us were so close that we could hear everything.

"I hope so," Caleb responded. I snickered. He ignored me. "Uh, listen, I got something to do right now, but I'll give you a call soon, okay?"

"I'll be in my room."

"Okay." He hung up and slipped his phone in his pocket.

"What'd she say about Kate?" demanded Pogue, who was the farthest away from Caleb, even though it was claustrophobic how close the three of us were. "Why won't she call me back?"

"She's still pissed at you," I said, leaving the two of them and walking ahead. Caleb followed me and Pogue tagged along.

"And why are we doing this?" he asked.

"Cause I saw the darkling again," Caleb muttered, leaping fluidly over the fence.

Pogue and I looked through the gate at him, the iron now separating us.

"But I saw it, too! And so did Pogue! What's the big idea?" I exclaimed in a whisper.

"Because I want to learn more about Chase Collins."

"Yeah, but why break into the admission's office?" asked Pogue.

"I just told you," Caleb responded.

"Look," said Pogue, leaping over the fence, "I don't even like the guy."

"You've made that obvious," I snorted, leaping over with ease.

"Are you sure you're not just imagining this?" finished Pogue.

"I swear his eyes were as black as night in the pool today," Caleb said with an edge in his tone.

"You're just paranoid, Caleb," I said.

"We've come this far," Pogue said. "Might as well go through with it, or he'll never leave it be," he pointed out.

"Okay, okay," I sighed, slipping my hood over my head before we jogged out into the rain.

The rain was heavy and cold. I was soaked before we even got to the steps of the main building. Pogue looked around nervously and I watched behind us. Caleb's eyes became dark and soon the lock on the door rattled and it creaked open.

It was silent and dark when we slipped inside. It took a little while for my eyes to adjust but they did eventually. Pogue and I followed Caleb as he hurried down halls, up and down flights of stairs and into several different rooms when we made wrong turns.

Finally, I spotted the correct door. My eyes became black and then it opened with ease. Before long, the three of us were at separate file cabinets searching through records. Caleb used a flashlight he'd brought along and he had the best light compared to my phone and Pogue's iPod.

We searched intently for several minutes before Caleb spoke.

"I found something," he said.

Pogue and I left our cabinets and came over. From the light of Caleb's flashlight, I could see he held a newspaper article and a picture of three people: a middle-aged couple and a younger Chase. The title of the headline was written in bold black letters.

**Prominent Couple Killed In Crash**

"Dead in a car accident," Caleb murmured. "It says Chase's father just lost control."

I felt an immediate surge of sadness for Chase as I looked the article over. They were killed on July 14, a Friday. _Poor guy,_ I thought. Maybe this was why he was a little out of touch…

Pogue was looking at previous school records and I was looking at his birth certificate. Chase's birth name—his full name—stuck out. _Chase Goodwin Pope_. . .

"Pogue," I whispered. "Look at this." I pointed to Chase's name and Pogue's eyes widened.

"His real name was Pope," Pogue said aloud. "Chase Goodwin Pope."

"I've heard that before," I said. "I think it's a name…"

Pogue and Caleb exchanged a look. They recognized it as well.

Pogue scanned the birth certificate again.

"He was born July 14, 1988," Pogue read on. "He was adopted when he was two after his birth mother died."

July 14…July 14…July 14…? "Wait, that's his birthday?" I asked, looking over his shoulder.

"Yeah," said Pogue. Caleb's face changed.

"His adoptive parents were killed on July 14," I said, vocalizing what we all were thinking.

"What year was he born again?" Caleb asked quickly, sensing we were onto something.

"1988," said Pogue.

Caleb looked over the paper and then up at us. "They died on his eighteenth birthday."

His words hung there, then slowly and sharply, began to sink in. The three of us shared a look of awe, surprise and fear as we absorbed Caleb's words.

Loud, heavy footsteps echoed in the corridor below. Caleb whipped his flashlight over to the door. My heart rate sped up. Caleb shone the light steadily for a moment before I pushed his hand down. The light would do nothing but increase our chances of getting caught.

The footsteps stopped then began to be more frequent as the came closer.

Pogue muttered some expletives and we realized the feet were coming up in our direction. They must've seen the light.

Our eyes went black and we lifted up into the air, hovering between the floor and the ceiling, closer to the latter, though.

Sure enough, seconds later, the door screeched open and a night watchman came in carrying a heavy, bright flashlight and wearing a look of suspicion. _Please, oh pretty please, do not look up!_ I begged the guy.

He proceeded to look over the room thoroughly and he walked over to the file cabinet we'd been looking at. It was open, various papers askew. Caleb threw a look at me. This was not good.

The watchman closed the cabinet and looked around, shining his flashlight at every blessed thing in the whole freaking room.

He was turning towards the door when a few papers slipped from Pogue's hand and fluttered towards the ground. I made my eyes changed and stopped them just above the watchman's head.

After giving the room one final look, the guard left and locked the door behind him. We waited a few minutes to be safe before floating back towards the ground.

"Damn," Pogue exclaimed once we were on our feet again. "That was too freaking close."

"Yeah. Let's go," Caleb said.

We were on our way downstairs, trying to go quickly but quietly, our eyes scanning for any signs of other people, and all the while Caleb kept muttering.

"Goodwin Pope. Goodwin Pope. Goodwin Pope," he chanted. It was getting irritating when he stopped walking.

"I have heard that before. It _is_ a name," he said. "I read it—we all did—in the Book of Damnation. That's where we've heard it before."

"Wasn't that some lady's name?" asked Pogue. "I think it was…"

I'd looked the book over recently. The name rung a bell, too. "I think the name started with an _A_," I said.

"Yeah, I think you're right," said Caleb. He began rattling off old-fashioned _A_ names. "Alice, Anne, Agatha…"

"Angela," Pogue supplied.

"They didn't use the name Angela in the early 1600s," scoffed Caleb, rolling his eyes.

"Well, forgive me for trying to help," Pogue defended himself. "I haven't read the book since we were kids."

"Agnes," I whispered. That was it. That was the name. Pogue and Caleb, still debating over the popularity of random names beginning with _A_ at different times in history, didn't hear me.

"Stop arguing," I snapped. "You're going to get us caught. I think I have the name."

That shut them up.

"It's Agnes," I said. "Agnes Goodwin Pope."

A look dawned on Caleb's face. "Of course! It _is _from the Book of Damnation! They used to call her Goody Pope…don't you remember her?"

Pogue shook his head. I vaguely understood what Caleb was saying. He saw our blank faces and exhaled. "Just call Reid and Tyler," he said.

**Oooh, cliffhanger! Eh, not really, you all know what's going to happen. Well, kinda. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter, however small. Reviews are **_**always**_** welcome! **


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